Warning over fake motorcycle parts

A haul of fake motorcycle parts in India has prompted an Australian authority in trademark infringements to warn riders to be careful about buying cheap parts.

The fake parts were for Indian TVS motorcycles which also makes the new BMW G 310 R (pictured above) and G 310 S, however there are no details on what the parts were or where they were intended to be sold.

Nationwide Research Group opener Craig Douglas says the Indian haul is typical of the types of fake parts that are seized, usually in Africa and Asia.

“If it happens in India and Pakistan, for example, it is usually on its way to somewhere else where they will be bought and used invehicles,” he says.

“I’ve inspected non-genuine oil filters against the genuine article and couldn’t tell the difference just looking at them, but when I cut them open there was 30% of the filtering paper and no bypass valve.

“Once the filtering paper gets clogged, it ceases to process oil around your engine which could be an expensive exercise.”

Craig says if the part is substantially cheaper than a genuine part, it could be fake.

“You get what you pay for,” he says.

“Buy a $5 oil filter and you get $5 oil filtering. It’s like the old Bell helmet ad; if you’ve got a $5 helmet, get a $5 helmet.”

Buy from reputable sources

Craig says riders should only buy from reputable sources and be wary of buying online.

He also suggests having your bike serviced with a reputable garage.

“If an independent mechanic says they can do it for half the price of the dealer, be careful because they could be getting discount fake parts.

“Some may be as good as genuine parts but you don’t want to take the risk of say your brakes failing while in a corner because the discs are made of cheap Chinese steel.

“The consumer rarely knows what they are getting. I mean who gets in and looks at the oil filter after it’s been changed?

“I couldn’t even tell a fake when it was sitting on my desk next to a genuine part.”

I had to wait 3 weeks for a clutch cable, if I’d been touring on holidays my whole holiday would have been stuffed. Fortunately you can get cables made up. If OEM parts were in stock, perhaps people would buy them.

With genuine parts a larg part of the cost is in the certification of that part that the manufacturer has demanded from the OEM so that they can offer a warranty on the end product. I think it would be helpful if you make the distinction between ‘certified to a standard’ and ‘fake’ or counterfeit parts, which are substandard.

good example gates belts..use them on both my hondas fraction of the price of a honda belt which is a gates belt in a honda packet. Helmets all have to be of the same standard Yes a$5.00 helmet is as good as an expensive one if it is compliant
in some cases yes parts are inferior But in others you are probably getting parts from the same manufacturer as supplies to the big bike brands. Do you really think they all make all their bikes components in house?. Brands like bmw have reputations for being horrifically expensive on spares While the likes of harley not too bad due in no small part to to the huge trade in aftermarket spares

If you read this well-researched articlehttps://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Filters.html#OilFilters
you’ll see what you say is often true
eg Bosch filters
& also often not true.
Manufacturers sometimes produce a dimensionally same part to different quality standards for different vendors, eg exhaust systems can be exactly same but be made of inferior (cheaper) grade stainless.
You have to check the specs closely.
Oils ain’t Oils.

Starter solenoid for a Yamaha TTR125 – $179. purchased from Yamaha in the states – $8 plus $13 postage – We are sooo ripped off in Australia, fairs fair, we need to make money but those price differences are obscene, no wonder people try overseas parts.

Fake or counterfeit parts are not always bad parts.
There are some really stupid criminals who do a poor job of making fake parts by using substandard materials etc but then there are the smart ones that realise if their fake parts is at least suitable for the purpose they may never get caught and can keep selling stuff for years.
We all know that often a premium name brand item is just a relabled no name item that the big name company bought to sell at a profit, so quite often the Fake item is really the genuine article just not sanctioned by the name brand.
Then there is the stuff that’s just crap fake or not like the pair of foot pegs I bought off fleabay that the chrome started peeling off and the alloy corroded away within a couple of years they were a cheapy no name brand ang I got what I paid for.